And you have to wonder.. Even if they are re-opened and give the "all clear"... You have to wonder the scale of guessing they are using. I can't imagine they can inspect every inch of track in the area (which needs to be done) before reopening all these lines.

If I was a New Yorker who had to use mass transit daily I'd be wearing diapers for at least a week.

Yea, I think it was the show "Life After People" that said salt water can fark up concrete.

If there's one thing I learned watching that show, it's that apparently practically everything destroys concrete on 50-100 year timescales. Plants, water, salt, windblown sand, lichen, alternating heat/cold, you name it - it attacks reinforced concrete.

Frankly I'm nervous about the NYC subway system. Hundred year old tunnels, hundred year old supports, lots of cast iron.

Hurricane Gives Holed-Up Couple Great Chance To Have All Those Fights They've Been Avoiding

Misinformed Man Riding Out Storm In Bathtub Filled With Batteries

20 Idiots Evacuated From Times Square M&M's Store

And of course:Ways To Wait Out Hurricane Sandy

With Hurricane Sandy shuttering schools, businesses, and transit services up and down the East Coast, tens of millions of Americans have been left to wait out the storm indoors. Here are some ways you and your family can occupy your time until the weather passes:

Refer to FEMA's Official Indoor Fun Guide for emergency game ideasSit on your legs until they both fall asleep, and then try to get up and walk to another room; repeat this 400 timesSee how much loud clapping you can accomplish before man in next emergency cot gets angryRemember favorite memoriesStart planning your hurricane story now so you'll be able to one-up your friends' storiesTweet something cute or clever about storm. In event of power or Internet loss, just shout 140-character comments out windowIn moment of storm-induced panic, kiss roommate; never discussTake a shiat right in the middle of Times Square; it's your only chance

themeaningoflifeisnot:The real problem is in Queens. A major conflagration has broken out in Breezy Point. 15 fully involved buildings, and FDNY is having trouble getting battalions on scene and finding working pumps.

Smeggy Smurf:Typically backup generators fail when the fuel supply is disrupted. Building codes don't allow for the diesel to be stored inside the building without extraordinary measure being taken. Those measures are always cost prohibitive. So the fuel will most likely be in some sort of underground cistern. The likely source of the power failure is the pumps for the generators have been damaged.

There really is no good solution to the problem with current technology. I wish there was but that's not in the foreseeable future.

saintstryfe:DrPainMD: quickdraw: Folks dont let the trolls derail the real issues here. Just put them on ignore and move on.

Subby you are right this is ghastly.

Meh. It's a walk in the park compared to Katrina, Ivan, Camille, and some of the other real strong hurricanes that have hit the gulf coast.

Well, respectfully, while it's not a strong hurricane, this one is in an area that doesn't take many of them, only had a short time to prepare, and is in a place with much, much higher population density.

The problem isn't the generators. It's the fuel supply. Now if you can convince NYC that a few thousand gallons of diesel in an enclosed space inside a hospital building isn't a major fire hazard, well, go you.

pissedoffmick:Do you think that a guy named "NYC" owns all the generators? Norton Yancy Chillingworth - generator man.

He wasn't there, but he's certain that they didn't test their generators. He knows this because if a machine worked a few days ago under perfect conditions, there's no possible way it could not be working now in the middle of a storm. Machines don't work one day and then not work later, right? Every machine I've ever used -- especially those gas-burning ones -- work perfectly every single time. Fark, I don't even see mechanic shops anymore, they're so trustworthy and infallible. And if a machine breaks on you, you must be a moron who doesn't know half as much about disasters as a guy living the rough, survivalist lifestyle of Beverly Hills residents.